- 01
- Nov
- 2021
The Root Cause of Your Health Issues
There are many styles of acupuncture practiced in the United States. Five Element (5E) acupuncture is unique among the other methods because of its focus on the diagnosis and treatment of the underlying root cause of health issues.
5E practitioners understand that the Five Elements of Nature – Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood – are present in all of us, as a reflection of each Element’s natural qualities. 5E diagnosis categorizes the cause of each person’s unique issues as imbalances within one of the Five Elements. All the organs and their related meridians of energy (called Qi) correspond to an Element. For example, the Bladder and Kidney meridians are associated with the Water Element.
Each Element corresponds to an emotion, sound, color, and so on. The body and emotions provide signs for a 5E practitioner that help diagnose which Element originally went out of balance in a person. For example, when the Water Element is the first to go out of balance, its corresponding emotion of fear will become predominant within that person’s emotional experience. In 5E we call the original Elemental imbalance the Causative Factor, or CF.
5E treatment focuses on achieving balance of the CF – the original root cause Element. With a Water CF, the Bladder and Kidney meridians (the Water meridians) need to be treated to reach the root cause. By treating the root cause, 5E acupuncture not only balances the meridians of the CF element but also restores the balance in the other meridians and Elements, basically reversing the course of the imbalance. If Water goes out of balance first, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal will eventually go out of balance. Similarly, when the root cause Element is restored to balance, the other Elements will return to balance.
Therefore, it is so important not to simply treat symptoms. Let’s say the symptom a person deals with comes from an Element other than the CF Element. For example, a Water CF who has chronic (recurring) one-sided headaches. In Chinese Medicine, a one-sided headache is related to the Wood Element – specifically the Gall Bladder meridian – which travels across the temples and sides of the head. If treatment focuses on the Gall Bladder meridian, a single occurring headache can be effectively relieved. However, since the cause of those recurring headaches comes from the Water Element (Bladder and Kidney), and not the Gall Bladder meridian (Wood Element), the headaches will continue to reoccur with no change in severity. The patient would never see a lasting improvement in keeping that symptom away because the root cause was not addressed.
If the Water Element meridians (Kidney and Bladder) are treated to manage the underlying cause of the Gall Bladder headaches, the patient will experience a gradual reduction in the frequency and severity of the headaches. After a course of 5E treatment on the CF, the problem is minimized or eventually goes away completely.
A fascinating aspect of 5E acupuncture treatment is that it corrects more than the symptoms my patients experience. Patients quite often feel an overall sense of well-being – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually – after several acupuncture treatments. The holistic benefits of 5E treatments come about because the meridians of Qi energy function simultaneously on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. When the root cause is balanced, it balances the person at every level.
Diagnosing the correct CF is an art as well as a science, and in the hands of a skilled and experienced 5E acupuncturist, the results are quite amazing. Having practiced 5E acupuncture longer than any other acupuncturist in northeast Florida, I am privileged to offer my patients the best treatment that acupuncture can provide to restore balance to the root cause of their energy imbalances. I want to treat people not just for the day, but to restore their energy balance with lasting and holistic results.
In ancient China, everyone took advantage of regular acupuncture treatment at least five times per year, at the change of each of the five seasons (one season for each of the five Elements). Even if there are no current health issues, seasonal treatments are a smart choice for preventative medicine. It’s like getting an oil change for your car every 3000 miles to protect your car’s health.
If you have not had your 5E seasonal treatment yet this current season, what are you waiting for? Call the Acupuncture & Holistic Health Center at (904) 296-9545 to schedule a seasonal treatment on your root cause.